Online option boosts overseas payments for AIB

AIB has reported significant growth in the number of international payments being made by its customers since the facility to do this over the internet was introduced on its website earlier this year.

According to figures released by the bank yesterday, AIB personal banking customers made more than 30,000 online international payments to 85 different countries since the service was launched to internet banking customers on 5 April.

This online uptake contributed to an overall 30pc rise in all international payments, the bank said.

Poland was the leading destination for money transfers, accounting for almost a quarter of all international payments in June alone with close to 3,000 transactions (24pc of the total). The average payment from Ireland to Poland was €690.

The UK was next with slightly less than 2,000 payments (equivalent to 17pc of the total). The average value of these transactions was higher, at €1,260.

A recent report to an Oireachtas Committee on European Affairs identified cash-transfer costs as a burden for migrant workers. It was reported that in some cases these charges could be on average 15pc to 20pc of the total transaction amount.

AIB said that its international payments facility does not carry a charge for sending less than €5,000 within the eurozone. Of the 30,000 international payments made over the internet, more than 22,000 (75pc) were processed at no cost.